Universal Epic Universe theme park

I wonder if Dark Universe will resuscitate the old Universal Monsters Cafe, which specialized in BBQ.

Oh? What more can you tell us about the monster cafe?

It was a standard burgers & pizza place for most of its history but switched in its last few years of operation to pulled pork, sausages, roasted chicken & other southern staples.

…No pun names or anything?

I remember a Monsters-themed eatery in Orlando when I went... but it was just, like, a hotdog cart or something. I didn't actually get anything from it, so I don't know what it had.

Apparently one of the restaurants in Dark Universe is going to be called The Burning Blade Tavern and be built inside of the burning windmill from Frankenstein (1931) (yes, the windmill is perpetually burning).

Edited by BOOXMOWO on Feb 1st 2024 at 5:16:57 AM

I must confess that the name “Burning Blade” makes me think of the orc clan from the Warcraft games. ^_^;;

So here's what Epic Universe looks like now, a year and a half or so before opening.

That actually isn’t a half bad idea… Villagers turning the site of their triumph into a resturaunt.

What will it serve, though?

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Feb 4th 2024 at 1:05:32 PM

Looking at the photo, let's see what we can make out:

Cosmic Park

• We already know about most of what'll be there, and I can see it in the photo. The coaster, the merry-go-round, the central lake, etc.
• All the portal gates seem complete.

Ministry of Magic

• It seems to be an area surrounded by a building-shaped wall, but with no roof (unless they plan to add that later on). Aside from an obvious show building for a ride, can't make out that much.

Isle of Berk

• The statues from the films at the entrance.
• A roller coaster spanning most of the land, obviously the keystone "dragon-flying" attraction.
• A Viking boat in front of a mountain, probably the eyecatch to an indoor seafaring ride.

Super Nintendo World

• We can see part of the Bowser's Castle facade in front of the show building for Mario Kart.
• The big platformer wall from the other versions.
• The beginning of the DK coaster.

Dark Universe

• What looks to be Dracula's castle right next to the hotel, connected to a large show building.
• The aforementioned wimdmill.
• A smaller roller coaster surrounding what might be a church building... can't think of what this is from (I will admit, it's been a while since I've watched any of the classic monster films)

And in other news, the former KidZone now has a recognizable structure visible behind the wall: Hey now, you're an All-Star, get your show on, get paid...

Edited by lbssb on Feb 4th 2024 at 2:07:52 PM

There's actually a huge amount of information about the attractions in Epic Universe that's been pieced together from patents, trademarks, and permits. So a few clarifications on what you're looking at:

• The mountain is actually the exterior of the Grand Hall (which was carved into a mountain in the movie). There is a boat ride though, an outdoor one, not pictured. There's also two spinner rides and a theatre. Only half of Berk was caught in this photograph, really.

• The mansion in Dark Universe is actually Frankenstein Manor, and the ride inside is Monster's Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment which is a robo-arm based dark ride, like the Harry Potter one, but without the dome screens.

• The coaster in Dark Universe is called Curse of the Werewolf. The cabin in the middle of the coaster is a section of the track where the coaster does a swing launch, passing through the cabin forward, then backward, then forward, in rapid succession, presumably with some werewolf scene happening inside the building and changing with each pass.

We have a video going in depth on the Isle of Berk section of the park. It’s supposed to be set between the second and third movies.

Behold, The Isle of Berk:

Honestly a very interesting idea to turn Mead Hall into an actual Mead Hall and restaurant. Very interested in seeing the menu.

Been a while but bumping with news that they are dropping details about the Super Nintendo World section of the park:

The big addition is a Donkey Kong Coaster designed to give the illusion of jumping the track.

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on May 2nd 2024 at 8:52:31 AM